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SIGNS OF EARLIER Sculptor Iain Cheesman is responsible for hanging all of the art in my apartment. Who would know that hanging art is its own specialism? Everything in my collection is carefully coordinated. I would never hang anything myself now. Cheesman's own work has the loosely co-ordinated whimsy that he brings to art-hanging. His s...

Wāhine toa! At a Parliamentary event organised by UNICEF just before Christmas, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the audience that she loved children (!). I really believe in this stuff, she said, that's what motivates me in politics. UNICEF's advocacy manager Prudence Stone floated the idea of an event to celebrate New Zealand's network of child...

​American academic Peggy McIntosh describes white privilege as an 'unearned package of assets' enjoyed by white people. She argues that in Western societies, whites enjoy advantages that non-whites do not experience. 1 White people may not recognise the privileges they have. But the effects can be seen in workplaces, schools, universities, courts, ...

Anton Blank July 2017 At the Green Party's launch of their policy to address poverty on Sunday, Greens co-leader Metiria Turei made an extraordinary confession that she had lied to the Department of Social Welfare, when she was collecting a Domestic Purposes Benefit back in the day. Turei lied to Social Welfare about having flatmates she said, beca...

Chris Rock slays in Auckland Comedian Chris Rock opened last year's Oscars with a blistering attack on racism in Hollywood. There were no black nominees during 2016 which is why Rock called the Oscars the White People's Choice Awards. As if there hadn't been other years when there were no black nominees he goes on. What about the sixties? In the ye...

Our Indigenous Diversity Forum in May will focus on unconscious, or implicit, bias. Here are some answers to questions asked of us since we advertised the forum. It's also a taster of our book Rewire, which will feature at the event. Whatis racism and what is bias? Everyone has biases. Mostly they are implicit, which means the bias operates at a le...

Photographer Stephen Piper spent two weeks in Southland this year photographing images for his first solo exhibition – South – currently on at Northart Gallery at the Northcote Shopping Centre in Auckland. English and a location scout by trade, Piper brings a filmic quality to the images and while the gorgeous landscape is there, Piper's primary fo...

Apocalypse Now I can't bring myself to read too much more about Moko Rangitoheriri, the Rotorua toddler killed by his caregivers. There's a sickening depravity to it all; a couple completely disconnected from their own humanity and the human spirit in others. They did unspeakable things to this poor boy. Also in the news last month, a three-year-ol...

Hong Kong hideaway New Zealand artist Mark Schdroski has been domiciled in Hong Kong for the last fifteen years. He lives with his partner, jeweller Edmond Chin, in Central Hong Kong. They own two apartments side by side, which they have developed into a single dwelling. Chin's clients are international; actresses wear Chin diamonds to the Academy ...

There's a lengthy feature about my colleague Hautahi Kingi in the February issue of North and South . Born and raised in Whanganui, Kingi is the progeny of a Māori father and Pākehā mother. Educated at kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori, he spoke no English until he was seven. He went on to win scholarships to attend St George's, a preparatory scho...